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Birds of Zihuatanejo

CLASS AVES

-Animals (Kingdom Animalia)

-Chordates (Phylum Chordata)

-Vertebrates (Subphylum Vertebrata)

-Birds (Class Aves)

-Perching Birds (Order Passeriformes)

-Tyrant Flycatchers (Family Tyrannidae)

-Empidonax Flycatchers (Genus Empidonax)

-Hammond's Flycatcher (Empidonax hammondii)


Hammond's flycatcher is a flycatcher in the family Tyrannidae. A small, olive-green bird with a prominent eye-ring and wing-bars. Forages by watching from a perch and then flying out to catch insects, usually returning to perch to eat them. Uses feeding perches at various heights in forest, often low; may take insects in mid-air, from surface of foliage or branches, or from the ground. Feeds mainly on insect, including beetles, caterpillars, moths, flies, leafhoppers, and small wasps.

Hammond's Flycatcher

Empidonax hammondii

Diet

  • Primarily small flying insects, including flies, mosquitoes, gnats, beetles, moths, ants, and wasps.

  • Also feeds on spiders and occasionally small berries during migration and winter.

  • Hunts by making short aerial sallies from exposed perches or by gleaning insects from foliage.

Range

  • Breeds from Alaska and western Canada south through the mountainous western United States into northern Mexico.

  • Winters from western and southern Mexico through Central America.

  • A regular winter visitor to the Zihuatanejo region, where it inhabits tropical dry forests, woodland edges, riparian forests, shaded ravines, and second-growth woodland.

  • Prefers wooded habitats with dense tree cover during the non-breeding season.

Male vs. Female

  • Male: Greyish-olive upperparts, pale gray throat and breast, whitish belly, distinct white eye ring, and two pale wing bars. Slightly larger than the female.

  • Female: Nearly identical in plumage but generally a little smaller.

  • Sexes cannot be reliably distinguished in the field except by subtle size differences or breeding behaviour.

Size

  • Length: 12–14 cm (4.7–5.5 in)

  • Wingspan: 20–22 cm (7.9–8.7 in)

  • Weight: 8–12 g

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